


A Closed Shipping Container Is Still A Closed Shipping Container

by SoManyFandoms



Category: Misfits
Genre: Claustrophobia, Gen, Nathan is Claustraphobic, Simon is Calming, Stuck in a Shipping Container
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-12
Updated: 2014-07-12
Packaged: 2018-02-08 13:04:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1942236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoManyFandoms/pseuds/SoManyFandoms
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The gang are stuck inside a shipping container. The problem is, Nathan has claustrophobia. He's breathing too quickly, and Simon's trying to calm him down.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Closed Shipping Container Is Still A Closed Shipping Container

**Author's Note:**

> Slight spoilers for Season 1, Episode 6, Season 2 Episode 1, and the Christmas Special (end of Season 2.)
> 
> I did not write this to make fun of people with claustraphobia, nor was it my intention to ridicule them. I had a colleague who got stuck in the toilet room at work due to a malfunctioning doorknob (you walked into the room with the basin, then the next room beyond that had the toilet), and her yell for me was scared and had me moving the quickest I had ever moved to try and get her out. That doorknob was repaired the next day.
> 
> The idea for this came while watching the 4th episode of Season 1 of The Hour. In the episode someone put a hand on someone else's chest. My thoughts were 'Breathe. A hand on the chest to provide connection and so the person feels the hand and takes back control of themselves.'

Nothing had scared him as much, not since his mum changed the locks. He had been shocked that she would do that, that she would turn him, her son, away in favour of Jeremy, her boyfriend.  
  
There had been the sharp pain when he was impaled on the spike, but that had quickly been swallowed by the blackness of unconsciousness, so he hadn't really been scared of that, though he had been scared to find himself slipping from the roof and Simon's grasp.  
  
Waking up in the coffin though, that had been scary. That is what had scared him as much as getting home to find that his key wouldn't work and that his mum wouldn't let him in. It was the thought of being buried six feet under with five feet of dirt pressing down, forever.  
  
It hadn't started as claustrophobia, not until he'd really thought about the situation and realised he was stuck in a box that was only a little bit wider and longer then he was, even though it was a good depth, so he could at least turn over easily.  
  
It was then he had pounded at the lid of the coffin, screaming for someone, anyone, to rescue him, praying someone heard him, though the rational and irrational side of his mind warred over that point. When he'd heard dirt moving and shaking above him he had almost cried with relief, but the breathable air was running out fast and already his mind was turning foggy.  
  
The relief when he revived to find the four of them standing around his coffin almost had him jumping up and hugging them, but he had stopped at that. They got on with their lives, he found himself back on the community service system, and made his mum faint when he turned up on her doorstep, grinning and happy to be alive. If she hadn't seen Jeremy as a dog, she might have ended up in the same place as Simon had been after his arson attempt.  
  
But this, this rivalled the coffin. The five of them were stuck in a disused shipping container who knows how many miles out of town, and outside night was falling, from what their mobiles told them of the time. Kelly had been able to call Seth and he was on his way, but the knowledge wasn't helping.  
  
He was stuck with no way out until Seth arrived, and the container was closing in. He didn't want to appear weak in front of the others, so he started to walk along one end of the container and then the other, back and forth, back and forth, counting the steps in his head to try and combat the part of him that was freaking out. It worked, for about five minutes.  
  
"Can you stop that, man?"  
  
"No." Nathan kept walking and then he was on the ground.  
  
"Ow!"  
  
"Stop it! You almost walked into me half a dozen times."  
  
"I'm bored." Yes, that was a whine.  
  
"Just shut up, man. We're all bored and we're all waiting for Seth. What's the time?"  
  
"Six thirty", Simon said from Nathan's right. The glow lit up his face for a second until the phone slid together and the backlight turned off.  
  
"I can't believe the probation worker sent us out here to clean shipping containers," Alisha said. "What is the point?" She sounded pissed.  
  
"Better then picking up rubbish." Kelly was tapping out a text to someone really fast, the sound of her fingers on the keys melding together.  
  
Curtis's voice was coming from the other side of an oval, making it hard to hear what he was saying.  
  
"Nathan." There was a hand on his chest. "Nathan, breathe." He couldn't see who it was, couldn't distinguish the voice. "Breathe with me." Suddenly his hand was on someone's chest, and that chest rose and fell, slowly, and he heard deep breaths being taken and let out, slowly. He seized the covering in his hand and tried to do as the voice asked, one slow breath in, one slow breath out. A small, cry like noise came from somewhere.  
  
"You're fine Nathan, we're all here. Breathe. In." The chest rose. "And out." The chest fell. Nathan could feel his breath syncing with whoever was in front of him, and if he had of been watching this happen to someone else he would have laughed at how hard the other was trying to get the first to breathe with them, as if they were training for the Olympics or something.  
  
"That's it, you're doing well Nathan. Breathe in, and out. In, out. How much longer?" That question wasn't directed at him but Nathan heard it and batted it away with his mind. In, out, in, out, feel the shirt rise and fall with the chest, in, out, in, out.  
  
The only thing that moved was the shirt he was holding onto, the only thing he could hear was his breathing and that of the person opposite him. The wind would fly into his face and then leave him. Mint was carried on the wind, and it reminded Nathan of the candy canes his mum would hang on the Christmas tree when he was younger. A sound suddenly pierced his bubble and Nathan froze.  
  
"Nathan, Nathan! Breathe, come on, breathe with me, that's it, keep going, in, out, in, out." A hand was over his, holding him to the shirt, to the chest, to the breathing. Nathan gulped in a few breaths then went with the pattern. The hand moved from his to his side, to the arm that was brushing the floor. It moved his arm to the shoulder of his helper, and soothing words accompanied it.  
  
"That's it Nathan. Hold my shoulder. Now, we're going to stand up, ok? Slowly, let's test your legs." The hand that had moved his arm was now holding it, helping him get to his knees. His body was shaking but Nathan had no idea why. "You're doing well, Nathan. Come on, just a bit further." Soon he seemed to be standing, still connected to the other person by his hands on their shoulder and chest, and their hands holding his arm and resting over his heart with a firm grip on his shirt.  
  
"Just have to move a bit, ok? Come on, forward, left foot, right foot, that's it, you're doing great, left foot again, right foot, left foot." He was focusing on his feet, watching them move. He could feel the person in front of him shift their focus from his feet to his bent head and back again. "Just a bit further. There, we're out now, breathe Nathan, breathe."  
  
Nathan dropped when he realised they were outside of the shipping container. He pulled his buoy to him, burying his face in the fabric he was still holding. He felt them both shake and the hands moved from his front to his back, and then a hand was in his hair, running through his curls.  
  
"You're safe now Nathan, it's ok. Here, blow." Nathan blew his nose into the fabric and his tears seemed to slow down a bit, though hiccups still escaped. He pitched forward as he felt bile rise but swallowed it back, moaning at the taste that now filled his mouth. The hand left his hair and then returned, and Nathan could feel the arms around him helping the hands to do something before his head was pulled back slightly. Something was put into his mouth and his head guided back to the wet fabric. Nathan sucked on the mint, breathing deep the cleanness of it and the smell, and closed his eyes.  
  
"Hey, are you going to sleep on me?" The words seemed to have amusement woven around them. Nathan felt his helper start to get up, encouraging him to do the same. He didn't want to move though. There was the hands on his arm and holding onto his shirt, and soon there were another pair of hands pulling him to his feet.  
  
"Nathan, you're going to have to open your eyes for this. Come on, in you get." Nathan didn't open his eyes though and could feel his helper push while someone from the other side pulled.  
  
"Thank god for open BMWs," someone said, and someone else laughed. Everything flowed by Nathan like a stream while he kept his hold on his buoy and refused to let go.

 

"Do you think he'll be okay?" Kelly asked from the other side of Nathan, while Alisha looked around her and Curtis twisted around the front passenger seat.  
  
"I think he'll be fine. We just have to keep an eye on him when we're somewhere small and make sure there is a clear exit for him." Simon kept a close hold on Nathan to stop him sliding around when they turned corners, though his grip on Simon's shirt and them and the two girls squeezed in the back of Seth's BMW helped minimise it.  
  
When they got to the community centre Simon woke Nathan up a bit so he could help with walking in, while he and Curtis stood either side and guided him along. The others left Simon up top with Nathan, and once he was sure Nathan was comfortable and that there was water nearby Simon sat against the wall and waited for Nathan to wake.


End file.
